Monday, April 19, 2010

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I'm building my meal plan to allow for leftovers, because in any meal plan, really, leftovers are kind of needed to get by timewise.

A note on raw eating...I am trying to achieve a high raw lifestyle, meaning that 90-95% of what I'm eating is raw. However, when it comes to spices and oils and tamari, I am often not opting for the raw versions. For spices and oils, this is a matter of accessibility (other than coconut oil, which is easy and inexpensive to acquire); although I am going to try to find and use more whole versions of the spices (like the tumeric root and cardamon pods, for instance), it will still be very hard to determine whether these are raw. For tamari, this is because nama shoyu (the raw version) contains gluten, which I am allergic to. Now, you could go with bragg's soy sauce-like product, but I don't use enough of it to really be bothered.

Now, you could probably do without most of the olive oil I use, which is the oil I use most frequently, as I don't use that much of it. So, if you want to live a fully raw lifestyle without spending tons of cash, that is an option.

Also, one final note, you may notice that I use lots of cashews and almonds as my nuts of choice. Well, I just recently found out that although labeled raw, the commonly sold versions are in fact not raw. Since 2007 all California almonds have been pasturized due to cross contamination in factories with salmonela (you'd think they should just have to have stricter controls in their factories, because really now, so gross! But, I guess this was ...cheaper?). Anyway, you can order raw versions of these nuts online (upaya naturals is a good source if you're from ontario); but, they are considerably more expensive than the non-raw versions. For now I am still using the non-raw versions, but am cutting down how much I use them.

Anyway, here's day 2 of the raw lifestyle meal plan...apparently I was in the mood for a tex-mex themed day...Click here to see day one of the meal plan.

breakfast: green smoothie - strawberry, banana, hemp seed, spinach, nut milk (or just blend hemp seeds first with water to make hemp milk and then blend in other ingredients)

Right, so I am totally obsessed with raw wraps and raw tacos. They're super easy to make and mega delicious. For the wraps, I use either savoy cabbage or collard greens. For smooth rolling, I cut the thickest part of the stem out, and shave the stem on the rest of the leaf (see photo below).

To make:
Curried lentil sprouts

Lentil sprouts tossed with tumeric, cumin, cayenne and a bit of olive oil (or lemon juice or water if you don't want to use the oil)

Easy peasy salsa

chop tomato, red onion, coriander, garlic, jalapeno. Toss together in a bowl. Let sit for a while if you're not in a hurry to eat; your taste buds will thank you.

Lazy guacamole

Mash an avocado with a fork with some lime juice

Shredded lettuce and/or cabbage
Olives (my jarred olives are clearly not raw. Actual raw olives are hard to find and a bit pricey. I love olives, so I eat them anyway. These can easily be omitted from the recipe.)

CUTE MOMENT BREAK!! Sabrina, my gray and white kitty is curled up on the automan in the exact same position as Ryder, the foster cat with the exact same colouring and markings (though he's solid gray, not tabby) who is on the chair behind her. And he's like half her size! The mini bean!! (We call Sabrina Bean. It's quite fitting once you get to know her.)

Hello your texmex day looks delicious.I'm looking for some day plans such as yours to try this raw thing.My only concern is my and your teeth.Due to me eating fruit several times a day for a period of let's say three years I now have dental erosion. The dentist advised to eat fruit only once or at most twice a day to limit erosion.

hi C,that's quite unfortunate about your teeth! I'm not a dentist, so you may want to verify with them, but I think staying away from acidic fruits and drinking lots of water when you eat fruits (especially kind of swishing around your mouth) may help prevent further fruit-caused erosion.

Soooo yummy! I'm very quickly becoming addicted to your recipes. I used the green olives the first time around...yowza, too salty for me. The second time around I added red pepper flakes to the salsa (not raw obviously but yummy) Yay :)

thanks wyllow! glad you're enjoying! If you're using olives that are from a jar/can, you'll need to rinse super well otherwise they are grossly salty! The pepper flakes sound delicious, I'm going to try next time - thanks! :)

Re: raw olives. I don't know all the rules to what is considered raw but most olives are not cooked but rather thrown in raw into a brine (salt and water). Although I cannot vouch for the canned variety.Anyhow if anyone is hunting for raw olives these can be found on the danforth around summer and are not too expensive but they should be treated with brine before eating because they are deadly bitter in raw form.

I too am addicted to raw tacos. I used red cabbage but the crunchy leaves are hard to get at. I think I'll use Savoy cabbage as you have recommended. I also top them with Almond cheese (not raw, but so good.)